CAMP VERDE, Ariz., March 16 (UPI) -- A witness at the Arizona trial for the deaths of three people in a 2009 sweat lodge ceremony said he hasn't been the same since he took part in the event.
Stephen Ray told jurors he quickly became overwhelmed when the ceremony started and blacked out trying to escape the heat, KTVK-TV, Phoenix, reported.
Ray said he attributes his memory problems to the Sedona sweat lodge.
"Sometimes I can't think of simple words," he said. "Sometimes I have trouble recognizing people I know."
His testimony came as the trial of self-help guru James Arthur Ray, no relation to the witness, entered its third week.
Ray, 53, faces as much as 30 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter for the sweat lodge deaths of three ceremony participants.
Medical examiners said Lizbeth Neuman, 49, of Minnesota, Kirby Brown, 38, of New York and James Shore, 40, of Wisconsin died of heat stroke or organ failure caused by heat exposure.
